Posts tagged with "pumpkin"

Ag Comhaireamh Puimcíní (Counting Pumpkins in Irish) agus Beagán “Smashing” Freisin

Posted by róislín No Comments
Oct 31 2011

(le Róislín)

What better íocón cultúrtha for both Mí Dheireadh Fómhair (agus Oíche Shamhna) and Mí na Samhna (November) than puimcíní?  I Meiriceá, ar a laghad, ar ndóigh.

Puimcíní snoite d’Oíche Shamhna – aghaidheanna scanrúla agus dradgháirí bagracha orthu!

An tOllphuimcín [un TOL-FwIM-keen] (ó na scéalta faoi Charlie Brown agus Snoopy)

Pióga puimcín á n-ithe ar feadh an tséasúir, ach go mór mór ar Lá Altaithe

Caife le blas puimcíní, noitmig, agus cainéal, dá gcreidfeá é!

Ravioli puimcín, fiú – agus é fíorbhlasta!

But for today we’ll practice counting them, which will involve our old friends, séimhiú (lenition) agus urú (eclipsis).  Remember, the noun stays singular almost all the time when counting things in Irish, so we’re still working off “puimcín” (singular), not “puimcíní” (plural, with the “-í” ending).  Here goes:

puimcín amháin [PwIM-keen uh-WAW-in], one pumpkin

dhá phuimcín [… FWIM-keen], two pumpkins (note: the “p” changes to “ph,” pronounced like an “f,” all quite standard for lenition)

trí phuimcín

ceithre phuimcín

cúig phuimcín

sé phuimcín [shay …]

Once we hit seven, the rules change and we switch to urú (eclipsis), with the “p” changing to “bp.”  Just the “b” of “bp” is pronounced, not the “p.”

seacht bpuimcín [shakht BwIM-keen]

ocht bpuimcín [okht …]

naoi bpuimcín [nee …]

deich bpuimcín [djeh, with just a breathy “ch” at the end of "deich," because it’s “slender”, not the “broad” (full-throated/guttural) “ch” of words like “seacht,” “ocht,” or German “Buch”

Counting in the teens?

aon phuimcín déag, 11 pumpkins

dhá phuimcín déag, 12 pumpkins

seacht bpuimcín déag, 17 pumpkins

But after multiples of ten, no change to the initial letter:

fiche puimcín, tríocha puimcín, daichead puimcín, céad puimcín, míle puimcín, srl.

Now as for “smashing,” which of course I can’t resist, there are several possible verbs:

bloghadh, shattering, to shatter, breaking into bits, to break into bits,

mionú, to mince, shatter, comminute (!), break into bits, or the “-ing” act thereof, or,

smiotadh, smashing, to smash, striking, to strike, hitting, to hit, but also to chip, to chop, to pare, etc. the latter choices suggesting something quite different re: pumpkins

But I’ll go with a different phrase for “smashing pumpkins,” namely “smidiríní a dhéanamh as puimcíní” (to smash pumpkins) since it  combines a word widely-known in English as well, one of the relatively few that come straight from Irish – smithereens.

Here are some possible phrases:

Ag déanamh smidiríní as puimcíní, smashing pumpkins

Tá mé ag déanamh smidiríní as puimcíní, I am smashing pumpkins.

Tá smidiríní á ndéanamh as puimcíní, Pumpkins are being smashed, lit. Smithereens are being made of pumpkins.

Déantar smidiríní as puimcíní, Pumpkins are smashed, lit. Smithereens are made of pumpkins, implying a habitual or consistent activity

And of course, that could continue, with the aimsir chaite, aimsir fháistineach, srl.  Ach sin blag éigin eile!

If you’re wondering if this blog is supposed to be a tribute to the band, The Smashing Pumpkins, well, um, erm, whatever, they’ve got a catchy title for sure.  But apparently they do want listeners to understand the word as the adjective form found in UK English, “smashing,” as in something being “wizard” or “keen,” to harken back to Enid Blyton days.  Of course, there’s always the possibility, in the tradition of “An Ubhthoradh A D’ith Siceagó,” that the pumpkins themselves are doing the smashing, on a roll, one might say.  If that’s the case, then I’d simply say, “Fainic!”

Ó! Ó!  Tá puimcín mór ag rolladh chugam agus níl sé ina smidiríní!  B’fhéidir is é an tOllphuimcín féin é.  B’fhéidir go ndéanfar smidiríní díom, nó b’fhéidir go ndéanfar pancóg díom.  Tá orm imeacht a fhad is atá mé fós tríthoiseach!  SGF, Róislín

P.S. Ceist do na Ceanadaigh ar an liosta – an bhfuil pióg phuimcín chomh tábhachtach sa mbiachlár do Lá Altaithe i gCeanada (i Mí Dheireadh Fómhair) agus atá sé i Meiriceá?  “Sine qua non” anseo atá ann!  Fáilte roimh fhreagraí!

Gluais: a fhad is, as long as; á n-ithe, being eaten; aghaidheanna [AI-uh-nuh], faces; bagrach, threatening; biachlár, menu; cainéal, cinnamon; chugam, towards me; chuig, to; dradgháire, grin; oll-, great, large, as in “ollscoil” and “ollmhargadh,” sula, before; tábhachtach, important; tríthoiseach, three-dimensional; ubhthoradh [UV-HOR-uh], eggplant


 

Tuilleadh Téarmaí Oíche Shamhna

Posted by róislín No Comments
Oct 31 2009

An bhfuil culaith Oíche Shamhna agat?  Do you have a Halloween costume?

Má tá, cén sórt culaithe atá ann? 

An mbeidh tú i do vaimpír?  [un may too ih duh VAM-peer?]     

Beidh [bay] / Ní bheidh [nee vay]

 

For these questions, note that you’re literally saying something like, “Will you be in your vampire?” and the answer is either “will be” or “won’t be.”  It doesn’t mean inside your own “vampireness,” but is simply a way to link a noun or pronoun, in this case “tú” with another noun, in this case, “vaimpír.”  It’s very important to include the phrase “i do” (in your” for sentences like this; normally one can’t use the verb “tá” to link two nouns. 

 

The full answer to a question like this is:

Beidh mé i mo vaimpír (I will be a vampire, using “i mo” for “in my”)

or for the negative, Ní bheidh mé i mo vaimpír. 

 

But one might simply answer “beidh” or answer “Ní bheidh” and then say what you’ll actually be, like “Ní bheidh, beidh mé i mo chonriocht.”  (No, I’ll be a werewolf).  

 

Hmm, that would actually be a tricky (úúps!) costume to create, wouldn’t it?  How would people know you were a werewolf and not just a regular wolf?  Maybe a costume that was “leathchonriocht” agus “leathdhuine” (half werewolf, half human), a sort of “fráma reoite beo” (living freeze frame) in the act of “trasdul” (transition). 

Seo cúpla ceann eile:

An mbeidh tú i do thaibhse? [… ih duh HAIV-shuh, silent “t” and “b”]     

An mbeidh tú i do dhiabhal? [… ih duh YEE-uh-wul?

An mbeidh tú i do chat dubh? [… ih duh khaht duv?]

An mbeidh tú i do bhuachaill bó? [… ih duh WOO-ukh-il boh?]

An mbeidh tú i do phíoráid? [… ih duh FEE-ur-awdj?[

 

And of course, now that Halloween costumes for pets have become popular, we could have a series of questions like:

An mbeidh do mhadra ina chat dubh?  Will your dog [male] be a black cat?

An mbeidh do mhadra ina cat dubh?  Will your dog [female] be a black cat? 

 

Or, thinking of an adorable costume I saw on a “smutmhadra” (pug dog) the other day:

Tá an smutmhadra ina phuimcín  (if the dog is male) or Tá an smutmhadra ina puimcín (if the dog is female). 

 

Please do note the pronunciation of the first part of the compound word for “pug.”   The “u” is like the sound in English “put” or “book,” not as in “putt” (in golf) or “buck.”  And please keep in mind that the compound “smutmhadra” literally means “stump-dog” or “snout-dog”  The first element may look like English, but that is, in this case, sheer coincidence.

 

If you’re trying to put a culaith on your cat, I’d say, “Ádh mór!”  I’ve also seen costumes for pearóidí, but have never actually seen a parrot wearing one.  Tusa?    

 

And  “mar fhocal scoir” for this topic, all of these questions imply a temporary state.  That is, you’re not permanently a devil, even though you’re wearing a devil costume.  

 

If you’re truly and inherently a vampire or if your pug is truly and inherently a pumpkin, you’d use the linking verb and say “Is vaimpír mé” (I’m a vampire) or “Is puimcín é an smutmhadra sin” (That pug is a pumpkin).  The first of those sentences might be reasonably useful, depending on what kind of company you hang out with.  The second one is a stretch, at least as I understand eiseadh (existence).  Perhaps we should say, “Is smutmadra é an puimcín sin” [That pumpkin is (actually) a pug].  To me, that would suggest that some wizard had transformed a pug into a pumpkin and you were pointing this out, since most people would think the pumpkin was simply a pumpkin.  But if you wanted to imply that the pumpkin could be transformed back into a pug, you could say, “Tá an puimcín sin ina smutmhadra” (That pumpkin is a pug). 

 

Of course, if your sense of identity with your costumed persona is really strong, you could use the “is” verb as well.  But if you wanted to say “I’m a vampire tonight, but if you want to know my job, I’m a programmer,” you’d say: 

Tá mé i mo vaimpír anocht ach má tá tú ag iarraidh a fháil amach cén post atá agam, is cláraitheoir mé. 

 

Whatever you choose to say with the Irish verb “is,” remember that it is pronounced like “hiss” or “miss,” not like its English look-alike, “is,” which is pronounced “izz.” 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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